The Good

The FBI has managed to neutralize the activity of yet another notorious malware network. This week, the agency announced the dismantling of the QakBot infrastructure that was used to infect over 700,000 computers worldwide, with more than 200,000 located only in the U.S. Besides this, there’s a piece of good news for victims affected by Key Group ransomware. They can now decrypt encrypted files using a free decryption tool that is built on flaws found in the ransomware’s encryption process.

• The FBI, in cooperation with European law enforcement agencies, seized 52 servers operated by QakBot operators. The agencies seized $8.6 million from the hacking group, representing illicit profits, while Dutch police secured 7.6 billion credentials from the servers. The trojan had infected over 700,000 across the globe and more than 200,000 were located in the U.S.

• CERT-NZ officially joined hands with the NCSC to bolster the nation’s cyber defenses. The development comes a month after the government announced its commitment to enhance cybersecurity readiness and response. The integration marks the first step in creating a unified operational cybersecurity agency in New Zealand, with similar actions taking place in countries like Australia, the U.K, and Canada.

• Cybersecurity firm EclecticIQ announced the release of a free decryption tool for the Key Group ransomware, thus, saving its victims from paying a ransom to recover their encrypted files. The researchers managed to create the tool by finding a flaw in ransomware’s encrypt routine.

The Bad

Moving on to data breaches disclosed this week, three cryptocurrency platforms were in the crosshairs of a SIM-swapping attack that enabled attackers to gain unauthorized access to the sensitive details of their claimants. Separately, a reputed clothing retailer, Forever 21, and a meal delivery service, PurFoods, were notified of data breaches that impacted the personal information of millions of customers.

• American entertainment giant Paramount disclosed a data breach involving the PII of around 100 individuals. The breach notification stated that the attackers had access to its systems between May and June. The firm is yet to confirm if the affected people included both its customers and employees.

• London’s Metropolitan Police Service is investigating a data breach that may have exposed the personal details of 47,000 personnel, owing to an attack at a third-party vendor. The data includes names, ranks, and photographs of personnel.

• Meal delivery service PurFoods disclosed that the PHI of more than 1.2 million individuals was stolen in a ransomware attack that occurred in February. The investigation determined that attackers exfiltrated the names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, payment card data, financial account information, and medical and health information stored on systems.

• The National Police of Spain warned of an ongoing LockBit Locker ransomware campaign targeting architecture companies in the country through phishing emails. The emails come from a non-existent domain fotoprix[.]eu, requesting a development plan and a cost estimate for the work from the architecture firm.

• Cryptocurrency firms FTX, BlockFi, and Genesis suffered data breaches caused by a SIM-swapping attack at Kroll. By transferring a victim’s phone number to a new SIM card, the attacker successfully accessed information stored on Kroll’s systems, specifically files containing the personal information of bankruptcy claimants.

• Threat actors are targeting Cisco’s ASA SSL VPNs in ongoing credential stuffing and brute-force attacks to gain initial access into networks, Rapid7 security researchers shared in a new report. These attacks have been active since March. This comes after Bleeping Computer reported last week that the Akira gang breached Cisco VPNs for initial network access.

• Cybercriminals are using a variety of methods to gain unauthorized access to Airbnb accounts and steal their personal details, cookies, and account checkers. The stolen data can further be used to book properties, make fraudulent purchases, or perform identity theft. One of these methods involves the use of info-stealers, deployed using social engineering tactics.

• The Ohio History Connection (OHC) shared an update in connection to a ransomware attack that successfully encrypted its internal data servers. During the attack, the attackers accessed the names, addresses, and SSNs of current and former OHC employees from 2009 to 2023.

• The University of Michigan took all its systems and services offline in response to a cybersecurity incident that disrupted access to vital online services, including Google, Canvas, Wolverine Access, and emails. The university engaged with the IT team to restore the impacted systems.

• A data breach notice filed by the clothing brand Forever 21 revealed that the personal data of more than half a million individuals was affected in a data breach that occurred earlier this year. The attackers had access to its systems for three months and stole data from both customers and employees.

• Group-IB has a report on Classiscam operations that have enabled cybercrime groups to make nearly $65 million by targeting individuals across 79 countries, tricking them into sending money for non-existent goods sold online. First observed in 2019, the campaigns have become highly automated and can be run on a host of other services such as online marketplaces and carpooling sites.

• A data breach at Topgolf Callaway exposed the personal and account details of 1.1 million customers, including those associated with Callaway’s sub-brands Odyssey, Ogio, and Callaway Gold Preowned sites. The incident occurred on August 1 and the affected data includes full names, email addresses, phone numbers, and order histories.

New Threats

Meanwhile, a lesser-known threat actor group Earth Estries came under the lens of researchers for its involvement in a cyberespionage campaign targeting governments and IT companies. There were updates on new Android malware families—MMRat and Infamous Chisel—spotted in different campaigns. While MMRat was used to target mobile users in Southeast Asia, Infamous Chisel infected the Android devices of the Ukrainian military.

• After a two-year hiatus, the DreamBus botnet resurfaced in a new campaign to deliver Monero mining malware. The campaign exploited a recently patched vulnerability (CVE-2023-33246) in Apache RocketMQ that allowed attackers to perform remote code execution attacks.
• Mandiant researchers highlighted that three custom backdoors—Skipjack, Depthcharge, and Foxtrot—were deployed in the May campaign that targeted vulnerable Barracuda Email Security Gateway appliances. The campaign was launched by a Chinese threat group tracked as UNC4841.
• An ongoing campaign, which is suspected to be active since 2021, is leveraging npm packages to steal source code and secrets from software developers. The packages are tied to cryptocurrency domains, indicating the attackers’ financial motives behind the campaign.
• Trend Micro dissected a new ongoing cyberespionage campaign by the Earth Estries hacking group, that targeted governments and IT companies in the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, South Africa, Germany, and the U.S. The group uses multiple backdoors, hacking tools, and PowerShell downgrade attacks to steal data from compromised systems.
• JPCERT warned of a new attack technique, named MalDoc in PDF, that bypasses detection by embedding malicious Word files in PDFs. The tactic makes use of polyglots to confuse traditional PDF analysis tools and evade detection. The PDF contained a Word document embedded with a VBS macro that downloaded and installed malware if opened as a .doc file.
• Sophos revealed that a threat actor linked to the FIN8 hacking group is exploiting a critical vulnerability in Citrix NetScaler systems to launch domain-wide attacks. The vulnerability under abuse, in Citrix NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway, is tracked as CVE-2023-3519 and can allow attackers to launch remote code execution attacks.
• A new Android malware, dubbed MMRat, has been found targeting mobile users in Southeast Asia since June. It relies heavily on the Android Accessibility Services and MediaProjection API to function properly. It is capable of executing bank fraud, recording user input and content on the screen, and remotely controlling the devices of victims.
• A China-linked threat actor called GREF was attributed to a campaign that delivered BadBazaar spyware on infected devices. The spyware was distributed via malicious apps for Signal and Telegram through the Google Play Store and Samsung Galaxy Store. A majority of victims were located in Germany, Poland, and the U.S.
• A new trojan called SuperBear was discovered in a phishing attack targeting civil society groups in South Korea. The attack, which is attributed to the North Korean Kimsuky APT group, was launched using a process hollowing technique, where malicious code is inserted into an LNK file.
• A new mobile malware called Infamous Chisel infected the Android devices of the Ukrainian military in a campaign launched by the Russian Sandworm threat group. The malware consists of components that provide the attackers with backdoor access to infected devices for network monitoring and file transfer operations.
• SapphireStealer has increased its frequency of attacks since its release in December 2022, noted researchers. In some cases, the information stealer was delivered via malware downloaders like FUD-Loader. The malware is capable of stealing sensitive information, including corporate credentials.